


The Boy Who Couldn't Smile

by snowzone5



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: AU, Anger, Angst, F/M, Kissing, Mileven, Soulmates, problem solving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27474928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowzone5/pseuds/snowzone5
Summary: A new subject is introduced to Hawkins Middle School. El and Mike are partners. El likes but then has a major problem with Mike. Mike has an accident and El is forced to re-evaluate her feelings.
Relationships: Dustin Henderson/Suzie, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair
Comments: 55
Kudos: 31





	1. The Great White North

**Author's Note:**

> I'm done with adult versions of Mileven for a little bit. The few stories I have now will get finished. But I have some angst to release :)

Mike knew that something was horribly wrong when his mom opened up the pizza box… on a Monday night.

_ We  _ never _ have pizza on Monday night. Never. This can only be bad news. _

_ Not only that, but as soon as we moved here, I don’t know, around six months ago, mom let me grow my hair long… I mean it’s great, but I should have seen the warning sign. _

“Mom, out with it. We already know something’s up,” Nancy said.

Karen Wheeler sighed. “We are moving again. I know we’ve only been here six months, but we are moving… Your father said Hawkins Indiana, he’s at the base making final plans.

They were living in northern Canada, some place called Churchill on the Military Base. Mike learned that it wasn’t even the most northern place in Canada, only about halfway.

But it was cold. Mike couldn’t believe how cold it was.  _ How do people live here? Halloween is a joke. You have to wear a parka if you don’t want to freeze to death. It ruins the best day of the year.  _

_ Doesn’t make any difference anyway. Everybody I was friends with moved away. How can you make any friends if you only have six months to four years in one place? _

The pizza was tasteless. He didn’t think it was from any known pizza chain. 

_ I’m eleven years old. I have no friends… not even a long shot at a girlfriend… and I’m going to be moving to a place where that’s my start. I can be nice to a girl, not an asshole like other guys I’ve seen. All I ask for is a chance. _

Mike gave a huge sigh, “When are we moving?”

“You will start school at Hawkins Middle a week from today.”

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


El was finally in school! Hawkins Middle. She was a little worried at first, but her friends told her that it was new to all of them. They promised to help her out and do everything together… at least as much as they could.

She knew she wouldn’t get as much support as they would. Max had Lucas, Suzie had Dustin. El had nobody.

But the good news is that she was in a school full of boys. And there were plenty of cute ones around. 

El wasn’t boy crazy like some of her friends. Especially Max. Even though Max and Lucas were boyfriend and girlfriend, Max still looked at other guys.

Dustin and Suzie looked like they were going to last a while. They were cute together, and Dustin would do anything for her.

El didn't have anyone. She thought she might have been interested in Troy Walsh, until he punched the new boy in the face.

No, El didn’t have anyone, but the new guy, his name was Mike, was super cute, but he never smiled. He didn’t happy at all. El smiled at him once, but he didn’t give her a second look.

_ It’s the hair. I know it is. _

His hair was a corkscrew mess… his lips…

_ Sigh. I could go over there right now and kiss him. You know… just to let him know I’m interested. I smiled at him once, but he definitely didn’t look interested in me. _

_ Even though his eye is a little bit bruised now he’s still cute. _

  
  


XXXXX

Mike’s first day at school was a memorable one. One of the school bullies called him ‘frogface’ and beat the shit out of him.

Nobody helped. Obviously they were terrified that he would turn on them.

And he beat him up the next day.

And the next.

Finally Karen Wheeler went to the principal 

She was rewarded with her son getting beat up again, his face was so badly bruised. His head felt battered after the last beating he was disoriented, he thought he might pass out, his vision was blurred. His hearing sounded fuzzy like a ripped speaker.

“...stay with him El…”

“...someone call the police…”

“...someone call his mom…”

“...someone get the school nurse and call an ambulance…”

  
  


XXXXX

_ He’s not crying? He should be in enough pain to cry. He looks out of it… _

El held his hand. “It’s ok Mike, I’m with you. I’ll stay with you until the… until help gets here.”

El thought she saw a small smile on his face, but it may have been a grimace of pain.

Everyone showed up, the police, the school nurse, a pretty woman that must have been his mom, and paramedics…

The police could no longer ignore the bully, regardless of the stature of his parents, and he was in juvenile detention.

  
  
  


XXXXX

_ Mr. Clarke is going to be my favourite teacher. He’s smart, I can already tell he’s a good teacher, the curly haired kids calls him ‘M’lord’. I have no idea what that’s about, but I’m guessing the teacher’s pet. _

“Every year, the State picks a random school to do a random special course. For those of you into computers think of it as a  _ beta test… you are the testers.” _

“To answer your first two questions: Yes. You have to take it. And, yes. You have to pass.”

“The good news… if you can call it that, is that I will be your advisor in this subject. Some of you already have me for Earth or Biology.”

“Ok, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. The overall program is called  _ ‘Humanities’  _ That usually encompasses different avenues for each grade. But like I said this one is new and being tested… by….  _ You guys!  _ This one focuses on problem solving. No not math or science… that’s covered in other courses already. No, this was is every day problem solving.”

“So first, I’m going to tell you who you’ll be paired up with. This is going to be a good news bad news bit of information. Which kind, is entirely up to you. I know there are boyfriends and girlfriends out there, and you’ve already filled out that you’d like to be paired up. That probably sounds like good news to you… right? Bad news is that you stay paired up for this semester, yes, the rest of the school year, and  _ all _ of next year. Even if you break up you are still paired with your subject partner.”

“The rest of you will be done randomly, and I’ll read those pairs on in a minute. I just want you to know that you may not like the person you are paired with. That will be your first problem to solve. That’s the point of this course to get you ready for the outside word.”

“You may not dislike, but not even know the person you are partnered with… just to reiterate, you are not required to be friends, you are only required to solve problems together.”

“Your parents have all been informed of this curriculum and have been told that they can only observe for safety reasons, but not to help. The school board has asked us to be on the honour system. But we have ways of finding out who’s not following the rules.”

Mr. Clarke when on for another minute or two, and then read out the student pairs who’d be working together for the next year and a half.

Mike waited for his name.... “Michael Wheeler you’ll be working with Jane Hopper.”

Mike looked around for a girl who might be looking for him, when he felt a tapping on his shoulder, it was the guy with short hair he’d been sitting next to.

“I’m Jane.”

_Well, that's no guy._ Mike nodded and held out his hand, “I’m MIke… I prefer that over Michael.” He looked into her eyes.

_ Oh… oh, she has big eyes. _

There was a shuffle as kids moved next to their partners.

“You can call me El for short.”

“Um… El isn’t short for Jane.”

“No… it isn’t. El is short for Eleven.”

Mike was confused but didn’t get to ask before Mr. Clarke spoke above the shuffling. “Every Monday the two of you will get a new problem, it has to be solved and a report written by the both of you, for the next Monday.”

“Second problem, for next Monday. You will have to go grocery shopping to get ingredients to make meal for the two of you. That you have to eat. Not desert, an actual one course meal. Your parents will give you the money and submit claims to the school with your receipts. They’ll also sign off on any problems that have to be done at home.”

The curly haired kid put up his hand, “M’lord, you said ‘ _ second problem’ _ ?”

“Very observant, Dustin, your first problem is tell your partner a secret, and to discuss for the rest of this class, why it’s a secret. Your partner should keep it. It doesn’t have to be very personal, it’s entirely up to you. If you haven’t guessed already this is to build trust between you.”

  
  


XXXXX

El had butterflies when Mr. Clarke mentioned that her and Mike would be partners for the next three semesters. She hoped they’d become friends… maybe even more… but at least… not be mad at each other all the time.

_ He’s going to expect me to tell him about my name. I’m not sure I trust him with that. Not yet…  _

To El’s surprise Mike spoke first, “I’ve never kissed a girl before.” He didn’t smile when he said that, but El was thrilled to hear it.

“Mike you don’t need to explain why that’s a secret… and I will keep it. I can’t grow my hair any longer. This is considered a short pixie cut… but I kind of like it.”

“It makes your eyes stand out… um, you have… um… really nice eyes.”

El blushed. “Thank you… I had… medical problems when I was much younger… this is the result.”

“I won’t tell anyone. I promise. My mom is a really good cook, and I’ve spent time watching her cook. I can make grilled cheese, and an omelette… but that’s about it. ”

El smiled, “I don’t think that’s going to be enough.”

“Maybe a Denver omelette, ham, green pepper and onions… I don’t really like onions though.”

“A Denver sandwich is a great idea Michael.” Mr. Clarke said as he came to their desk.

“Please sir, just Mike.”

“Mike it is. El how’s your first week of school?”

She smiled at Mike, “Very good so far, Mr. Clarke.” He nodded like he knew a secret and then moved on to the next table.

“He’s going to be my favourite teacher,” she said to Mike.

“I was thinking that myself.”

“I heard you were from Canada?”

“I moved from there, I’m not from there. I don’t know where I’m from… we moved around so much.”

“So you might not be here long?” El’s face fell.

“I have no idea… except for that Troy assh… uh, mouthbreather, I like it here. I’ll ask my mom.”

“You had it right the first time. He’s an asshole  _ and _ a mouthbreather. Where does your dad work?”

“Hawkins National Lab, or something like that I think he said.”

“Maybe you should move back to Canada and I won’t have to see your black and blue frogface again.” 

El got up and walked out of the classroom.


	2. Eleven Teaches the Frogface

Mr. Clarke came back to Mike and El’s desk, he picked his words careful, “Jane did not look happy when she left. You two run into your first disagreement?”

“I think so. I couldn't tell you what it is though. We can’t change partners can we?”

Mr. Clarke shook his head. “I know it doesn’t help now, but every single one of the partnerships are going to go through this. You are the lucky one first to have it happen.”

“Lucky?”

“Mike, making an omelette is trivial, if you hadn’t guessed by now, that’s not the real problem you will be solving.”

One of a teacher’s favourite things to watch is a student's face when the light bulb goes on.

“Ugh, yeah. I get it. I definitely get it now.”

  
  


XXXXX

Max smiled at El. “You guys were looking cozy.”

“Maybe, I’m trying to get a new partner anyway,” El said, trying to look bored.

“Trouble in paradise?” Suzie asked.

“Did you know that he’s never kissed a girl?” El said.

“Why would he tell you that? No guy will admit that, and no g… wait a sec. Was that his secret?” Max said.

El nodded.

“That’s not cool El. It was supposed to build trust. He won’t trust you know.”

“That's ok, I don’t trust that frogface either.”

“You’re insulting him now?” Max said, frowning a little.

“His dad works for Hawkins lab.” El said that like it would explain why she did said what she had.

_ Shit. They don’t know about the lab. I need to get this back on track. _

“That lab is evil, they don’t do nice things there. Anyway, I told Stacey Albright, she can’t keep a secret. It’ll be all over school by lunch and Hawkins by the end of the day. That’ll teach him.”

“So you are punishing the guy you thought was super cute?” Max said.

“You remember how you felt when I called you a weirdo?” Lucas said.

Dustin piped up, “So what if we didn’t let you hang around with us because your dad was a cop? How would you feel?”

“Well  _ I’m _ not a cop, I shouldn’t be punished for what my dad does and besides… oh… oh… “

El cast her eyes down. She said in a small voice. “He even said I had nice eyes, said my pixie cut really brought them out.”

Max gave her a questioning look.

In an even smaller voice El said, “I'll go find him and apologize.”

She finally found him at his locker, “Hey Mike,” she said keeper her voice light, trying to make her eyes bigger to help. “I’m sorry about this morning.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong… Jane. Shove your sorry.”

He grabbed his backpack, and went out the front door of the school.

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


“I want to thank you for sitting Mike after that bully beat him up.” Mrs. Wheeler sat across from her on the sofa.

“Yes, thanks.” Mr. Wheeler said, “He didn’t want to move here, he doesn’t have any friends, you are the only friend he has as far as we know. You could have even saved his life.”

“Mike said you worked at the Hawkins lab? What do you do there?”

“He did? Oh, well I’m a Bioethicist. I go around the country to make sure that places like the Hawkins lab are not doing anything that’s harmful or potentially harmful to people. That lab does not have a good history, I’m going to be years going through their experiments, there will be lawsuits, compensation. It'll be quite a job. ”

_ He’s not evil!  _ El thought… but immediately after,  _ the only disgusting person in this room is me… because of the way I treated Mike. He won’t even let me apologize.  _ _ Mike has a really nice family. Understanding parents, his dad actually does  _ good  _ things at the lab!  _ _ I think… I think I like him. Like like him.  _ Really _ like like him. I need to find him. _

“Mike and I are working on a project to do for this new subject we have to take.”

Mrs. Wheeler nodded and smiled, “how is that going?”

_ Really crappy Mrs. Wheeler. I betrayed his confidence by spreading an embarrassing secret, I insulted him, all because… all because. _

El cleared her throat, “Ok, we just got the first problem to solve today, we are going to shop for groceries and then make a Denver sandwich together. Do you know where he is? We were given time to go to the grocery store, but I couldn’t find him at school, I live next door, so I had to come back for money anyway.”

“No, honey we haven’t seen him since this morning.”

  
  


XXXXX

El was getting frustrated, she couldn’t find Mike anywhere.

She was headed to the junkyard to blow off some steam and practice her gift. She thought of it as a gift now. She wondered if Mr. Wheeler would come across her experiment number. 

_ It’ll be all out in the open then. I hope Mike is ok. _

He wasn’t.

She could hear crying at the back of the bus. It was a deep soulful crying, the kind you have when nothing is going right, and no matter what you try you can’t change it. You think it will be like this forever.

El knew that crying, she had done it herself many nights in the lab before she finally escaped.

It took a long time, but she waited until he stopped.

She got on the bus and walked towards the back, he looked up suddenly. El was shocked at his appearance, his eyes were all puffy from crying, his face still mostly black and blue from the beating he’d received.

Even though he looked about as un-super cute as you can get, El thought he was handsome.

_ I think… I think I might be in love with him. Well, good for you El. Good luck with that too. _

“Go away Jane.”

“My friends call me El… short for Eleven.” She tried to make her voice a little lighter.

“I’m not your friend, Jane. Go away.”

“We have to get over this Mike. You are my partner and we need to go grocery shopping.”

“Fine. I’ll meet you at the store. In an hour.”

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


Mike saw her by the bike rack, looking at her watch and pacing back and forth.

Mike sighed inwardly.  _ She really  _ is _ pretty. Don’t look at her Mike. _

He walked up to her, avoiding her eyes. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Are we cooking it tonight?”

“No. Tomorrow night. Maybe. We’ll have it done before we have to fill out the report. I’ve had enough insults for the today. Oh, and thanks for keeping my secret by the way. Classy.”

She looked down.

He already had girls asking to kiss him, some saying they could kiss them for a dollar, some saying they’d pay  _ him _ to kiss them, some for free. Some for kissing their boobs… It had been like that almost all day. Humiliating didn’t even cover it.

He was stuck with ‘my-friends-call-me-El-short-for-Eleven’ till the end of next year. Jane Hopper. And it turned out she lived right next door to him. Mike sighed.

_ Yeah. Let’s just get this over with. _


	3. Yly or Just Y From Ffestiniog or the Secret that Horribly Backfired

El tried her hardest to lighten the mood. She wasn’t mad at Mike.  _ I don’t think I ever was. _

“Do you want to know a secret?” She said playfully.

“Not from you. No.”

El’s face slumped. “Are you ever going to let me make it up to you?”

“Sure. Let’s get through this whole subject without any more drama for the next year and half. Does that work for you? That would make it up to me.”

El looked down and nodded without saying anything more.

_ He’s not even looking at me. I pissed him off so much he doesn’t even want to look at me. _

“I’ll carry these home, Jane. We’ll cook them sometime this week.”

El ran home, crying all the way.

  
  
  


XXXXX

  
  


“You know I used to be a detective in New York, right?” 

El nodded.

“Detective’s get these things called hunches.”

“I know what a hunch is dad. You are going to tell me yours?” Her bottom lip started to tremble.

“I think you are having boy trouble. And I think it’s with Mike Wheeler next door.”

El burst into tears.

Hopper immediately got up and hugged her. “It’s ok honey.”

“No it’s not.” She said through her sobs, “I said something bad. Something I shouldn’t have… he hates me.”

“You gave away his secret.”

El looked at her dad in wonder. “How did you know?”

“Hunch.” He smiled. “But, for State programs like this, the parents are kept in the loop. I can’t tell you but I know everything you two are going to be asked to do. So do Mike’s parents. You really do need to work this out between you two.”

El’s mouth still down turned, “I tried. He won’t even look at me now.”

“You betrayed his trust El… that’s a really big one to get over. I can’t help you, but if you think about it for a little bit… I’m sure you will come up with a way to get it back.”

“I can get it back?”

“I promise. You can get it back.”

_ How can my dad promise that? Or does he just know that we’ll eventually work it out? _

“Ok… thanks dad… I love you.”

“I love you too kid.” He gave her a tighter squeeze. Hopper was pretty happy with the smile on his girl’s face when she went up to her room.

XXXXX

  
  


_That’s it!_ _I’ll just get him to tell me another secret. I won’t blab it around school._

She told Max her plan.

“El…” Max said softly. “How are you going to get him to tell you another secret? You blew your first chance. Also… how do you know he’s not going to tell everyone yours?”

“He promised.”

Max laughed. “Oh, and you think he’ll keep his promise. He’s a guy. They’ll promise anything to get in your pants.”

“He looked me in the eyes. What kind of person would he be if he broke his promise to me?”

“I don’t know El. What kind of person would you be if you broke your promise to him.”

“But… but I didn’t promise.”

“And that makes it ok? 

El looked down… she tried very hard not to cry when she asked, “I don’t know what to do Max.”

“Well, you can try telling him a secret. A  _ big _ secret. One you really don’t want anyone to know.”

“I can’t…”

Max shrugged, “Maybe this will help you change your mind. Rumour has it that girls are lining up at Mike’s locker to kiss him.”

“That’s not funny Max.”

“I’m not being funny El. You aren’t the only girl in Hawkins Middle that thinks he’s cute. Word is also going around that he’s nerdy smart. And that he’s polite. And very courteous… and an all round nice guy.

El burst into tears again for the second time that week.

Max leaned over the lunch table and hugged her. “You really like him don’t you?” Max felt her nod on her shoulder.

“Only you can fix it.”

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


El’s dad had read to her a lot after he rescued her. Taught her how to read. She loved reading and read a lot. She read all the Nancy Drew mysteries, all the Hardy Boys, she liked Joe the best, especially when she saw Shaun Cassidy play him on the TV series.

She eventually moved on to more sophisticated reading. Some her dad didn’t really approve of. She learned new words, new phrases, and that’s the only reason he let her read that stuff.

One of the phrases was “ _ her blood ran cold”.  _ She never understood what it really meant. Not until today.

She turned the corner in the school halfway and saw that there were at least ten girls lined up at Mike’s locker. She counted. And the eleventh girl was Kyly Storm.

  
  


XXXXX

El first met Kyly in what acted as a temporary waiting room. They both sat on the floor of the hallway. Neither one of them was particularly happy to be there.

“You have beautiful eyes,” Kyly said. “I’m Y”

“E?”

“It’s spelt with a capital Y.”

“I’m Eleven. “ El held out her hand. 

They shook hands, El said, “Ok, you have to tell me about your name. I thought I had the only weirdo name… you know, to go along with my hair. Your eyes are beautiful too… very green, they almost look like there’s a light behind them.”

“Thank you Eleven. You are brave keeping your hair that short.”

The sat for a few seconds more before El said, “Ok. I want to be nosy, tell me about your name and the way you talk.”

El was referring to Kyly’s Welsh accent.

“My dad is from Australia, so Kylie comes from that. He married my mom who’s Welsh and I was born in  Ffestiniog. My mom wanted a more Welsh name for me so she had the i-e ending changed to a  _ Y _ . “ She sighed. “They got into a big fight over it, got divorced, my dad went back to Australia. The proper pronunciation to my name sounds like ‘curly’ but with our the R sound. My mom started dropping the K altogether to make it sound a lot more Welsh. So that turned into curly without the C or R sounds, but spelt like Y-L-Y. I tell me to call me Y… sounds like two EE’s. After the divorce, my mom had my last name legally changed to a shortened version of her maiden name. Storm.”

“You sound like you’ve told people this story before.” 

Y laughed. “Lots of times. So where did you get Eleven from?”

El told Y her story, both girls cried and hugged each other.

“Why are you here? Y said quietly.

“My hair won’t grow any longer, I have um, other problems from the lab, so I get monthly checkups. What about you?” She looked at Y’s deep auburn hair as she said that. 

“I have no left ear. ” She pulled her hair back, El look where the ear should have been. There was only hair their, no indication that an ear should even be there, like it had been airbrushed out in a photo.

“I’m sorry.” El said.

“It’s ok… boys are grossed out by it, so I’ve never had a boyfriend for longer than the few minutes it takes to tell them what my name is and show them.”

“They don’t really like short hair either.”

“El and Y. That sounds like a best friends combination.”

“It does... and it is.” El smiled back.

  
  
  


XXXXX

  
  


Each girl kissed Mike in turn. Y was the last. She gave him a much longer kiss.

_ I’m going to be sick. Maybe, if he sees she had no ear he won’t be interested. _

El watched as Y pulled her hair back. She held her breath to see what Mike would do. 

She had mixed feelings about what she saw next. He leaned over and kissed where her left ear would be. Instinctively she knew Mike would do that. He was that kind of guy. It hurt to watch as her brilliant green eyes flashed a smile at him. She was happy for her best friend. She had a boyfriend now.

It was also the boy that El was sure she’d fallen in love with.

It was all her fault. Had she kept her mouth shut maybe Mike would be kissing her right now.

She ran all the way home. She was crying so hard at times she had to stop and catch her breath.

_ One thing is for sure. He’s never going to look at me again. How am I going to get through the Humanities course with him? _

_ How am I going to live without Mike? I’m pretty sure I want to be with him for the rest of my life. _

Her dad had to hug her a long time before she settled down. She finally fell asleep on his shoulder and Hopper didn’t dare move.

He kissed the top of her head and whispered, “Sorry kid. Sometimes life just sucks shit from spigot number three. “

He was glad she couldn’t hear him.


	4. Solving Problems, the Distraction, and the Accident

Hopper heard the knock on the door. He got up and opened it. “Wheeler. What can I do for you?”

He stood there looking scared. “Um, Sir? I’d like to apologize to Eleven and work on our project. Is she in?”

“Upstairs. Door stays open. If I hear her crying you are gonna get thrown out on your ass. We clear?”

Mike nodded.

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


Mike knocked on the door, even though it was open. El was sitting on her bed propped up with pillows reading a book. It was  _ Pellucidar  _ by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

She looked up and smiled at him, held up the book, “This is the second in the series. About a place underneath our own world.”

Mike saw the cover and gave El an expression.

“Yessss. All his books usually have a large breasted female that the eventually… and incredibly muscled male character has to save and fall in love with. They call it men’s adventure, but most of his characters fight their way back to their girls. It's really a love story.”

“El?” He looked into her eyes from the door way. His heart picked up it’s pace.

_ Ah… she’s really pretty. _

El looked serious again, “Yes Mike?”

“I’m sorry for being a mouthbreather.”

“I betrayed your trust Mike. You had every reason to act that way.”

“Yly said I should give you a second chance, and she was right.”

“You are looking a little melancholy for just getting a new girlfriend.”

Mike had no idea what melancholy meant. “That’s the problem with rumours and social news in Hawkins Middle. Spreads really quickly but corrections almost never happen. Or happen one at a time.”

Mike sighed, “She was my girlfriend for about twenty minutes.”

“What happened?”

“You didn’t hear, it happened so quick, she was called to the principal's office. Her mom was waiting for her there. She had a job offer back in Wales, no time to think about it and it was too good to pass up. She’s already left the country. She tried to get a hold of you to tell you, I know you two are best friends. She asked if I could tell you.”

El looked down. Mike could see that she was sad to hear the news. “Did you at least get a chance to kiss her? Find out her secret?”

“No for the first part and yes for the second. I promised her I wouldn’t tell anybody.”

“I’m sorry Mike.”

“Yeah, I didn’t even get to really… um… fall in love or anything like that. The whole girlfriend thing was so new. Must be the shortest dating period in the history of dating.”

El laughed, then clamped her hand over her mouth, and said through continuing giggles, “I’m sorry, next girlfriend will be a longer period, I’m sure.”

“It would really suck if it was shorter. That’s for sure. So… uh, do you want to cook tonight. I haven’t eaten yet and I think we’ll be more motivated to do a good job of making it if we have to eat it too.”

They both walked downstairs. “Dad, we are going to finish our first project tonight.”

“Ok, I have to go into the office. So you can’t do it here. Mike, your mom will be out of your way but you can use your kitchen. I’ll come get El when I get home.”

  
  


XXXXX

  
  
  


“I’ll cut up the ham slices, you cut up the green pepper.” El said.

“I’m hungry, so we’ll eat about two eggs apiece? You can crack two, and I’ll do the other two.”

El was surprised that they worked that smoothly together, they didn’t get in each other’s way, they both seemed to know what needed to be done, when it needed to be done.

“Mike looked at me.” He looked at her with his deep brown eyes.

_ He doesn’t know that I know he’s kissed a lot of girls this morning. So that will be my excuse if it comes up. _

El put her hands behind his neck and pulled him in for a soft kiss. He kissed her back, which was something she hadn’t seen him do when all those girls were lined up.

“There that rumour is now history. You don’t mind if I spread that one around?” She gave him a grin. He was a little red, but smiling.

_ I’m going to do it! _

“Give me your hand.” Mike held out his hand, she grabbed it and put it underneath her sweater, and placed it on her bare breast. She specifically took off her bra before they’d left her house.

“Gentle squeeze.” She demanded… and Mike complied. She gasped, not expecting it to feel as good as it did.

“There we go.” She pulled Mike’s hand out from underneath.

“Now I have a secret. I let a guy feel me up in his kitchen. Please don’t brag to your friends, or tell anybody.”

Mike’s face was a deep shade of red and his eyes were intense as he said, “I promise.”

They sat down to eat the meal they had prepared together.

“This is good! Mike said.

“You want to do that again sometime?”

“The cooking?... or…”

El laughed. “The cooking… for now… quite a few things half to be in place in order for that to ever happen again. You now know two of my secrets Mike.”

_ I’m waiting Mike… don’t disappoint me… _

“Um… totally by accident I walked into my older sister’s room to ask if she had any spare brushes… and um, she was using um… the um… uh, handle end of a brush to… um… ah… uh… to… pleasure herself.”

El and Mike blushed so red it could have been picked up on a night scope.

“Please El. That’s probably my um… most sensitive secret.”

El put her hand on Mike’s, and looked into his eyes. “I promise. That’s something no girl wants anybody to know. You’d never live down the humiliation. I wouldn’t do that to you or your sister. I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to know that I…. uh. I’m not telling you that.”

Mike had to look away. 

_ I don’t think I’ve ever seen that shade of reddish purple before. He’s embarrassed for me. What we shared is probably too intimate for people who aren’t really friends.  _

Mike said something that made El’s heart glow. “I trust you Eleven. You can trust me. And I’m really sorry for anything I said that hurt you. I’m not like that. I’m a little ashamed of myself. If you want… we can be friends.”

El was already nodding when Mike hurried to say. “Um, you don’t have to be my girlfriend or anything, that’s not what I’m saying… but we can at least be friends.”

“It’s ok, I know what you meant. Let me introduce you to my other friends… um, Max is a little rough around the edges, but she has a good heart. Be patient with her.”

  
  
  


XXXXX

Tears were streaming down El’s face, she couldn’t help it.

“You’re dad is on his way here, “ Sam Owens said, “Mike’s mother is on her way, his dad is in the building we just haven’t located him yet. Before this turns into a zoo, tell me what happened.”

El blubbered through her explanation, but Sam picked out the relevant information.

They had been running around playing tag. Mike had looked over at El as he ran, he smiled at her and she flashed him her biggest smile.

And then something weird happened. His fleet flew out from under him he did a backwards flip and landed on his face. There was blood everywhere. El ran as Mike turned over on his back. His face looked destroyed. She looked over and saw a guy wire for a telephone poll, he must have run into it while running fast and that flipped him over.

She had to stop the bleeding, she tore off her sweater, yelling and crying out  _ help _ at the same time. 

“...stay with him El…”

“...someone call the police…”

“...someone call his mom…”

“...call an ambulance…”

“...here El, put on my jacket, you don’t want to get the neighborhood boys a show.

El held his hand. The ambulance was the first to show up, the paramedics, one really looking strong guy, and a young woman looked at each other and and Mike and El. They let El into the ambulance with him.

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


Dr. Owens came out of surgery after five or six hours. El had lost count. She had cried through most of it.

He leaned on his desk with his elbows. Hopper, The Wheelers, and El sat across from him.

“As the Chief already knows, I don’t sugar coat things. So I’m going to give you the good news first. When he his healed, except for a really nasty looking scar on his face he’s going to look the same. I would recommend against plastic surgery. It will just turn him into a freakshow… at that age it can be devasting to self-confidence.”

“If it wasn’t for the quick work Eleven did he’d be a lot worse off, possibly septic, I think she may have saved his life.”

“Ok, the bad news. The cut went in deep, he has a fissure on his skull the same length and shape. That will take time to fuse back together. Muscle was torn away. My team and I tried to re-attach muscles but realized pretty quickly the freakshow scenario was cropping up. So bottom line. He will be capable of very little facial expression. He will never smile again. We don’t know the full range of impairment for at least two or three months. He, um, won’t be able to talk clearly yet, it’ll sound like he’s trying to be a ventriloquist. Initially he won’t have much lip movement, and he may not regain that. Sorry Eleven.”

Hopper and Karen looked at El. Not sure what Sam was getting at.

“If you want another kick in the pants. This new state program the middle school is involved in doesn’t exempt him. This is the exact kind of thing they want to test.”

“There’s nothing you can do for now, he’ll be in an oxygen tent to promote healing. Go home and get some rest.”

“I’m staying.” El said. Hopper recognized the determined look on her face.

“That ok doc?” Hopper said.

Owens nodded.

  
  


XXXXX

“Now that the grown-ups are gone, I can tell you something you can do for Mike. Going on the assumption that you two are a couple.”

El shrugged…”Not really.”

“Oh. Hmm. That’s problematic. You know what. I don’t care, as I’m the doctor for both you now, I’m ordering you to help him with his muscle tone.”

“How do I do that?” El’s eyes went big. Sam hesitated as they bored into him.

“Kiss him. Every chance you get, simple kisses, big wet sloppy ones… he’s going to say now… lots of French kissing. He will slowly build new muscle memory in that part of his face.”

“That’s why you didn’t want my dad around.” El smiled.

“You ok with that?”

“You are now my favourite doctor.”

"I never though otherwise." He smiled at her and tussled her short hair.

  
  


XXXX

  
  


“Lynne. C’mere look at this.”

The other nurse followed her to the Wheeler kid’s room. In the oxygen tent was a girl in a hospital gown snuggled up against him. She had a protective arm over him and a contented smile on her face.

“Ooh, that’s so cute. I heard she saved his life. The real test of their relationship will be when she sees the scar. Sam practically promised it would be nasty looking. Right to his parents face.”

“That’s not the kind of character building parents want their kids to go through.”

“If they love each other enough they’ll get through it.”


	5. Kissing 101

“You heard what Doc Owens wants me to do… the um, exercises?”

“He explained that to me.” El had stayed with Mike every night for a week in the oxygen tent while he was on painkillers and not really conscious. The doctor said that Mike was “awake and lucid”. He wanted to talk to El. She was doing a bad job of trying to keep the smile off her face.

“Yeah. El I mean I know we kissed once… I would never ask you to do that. From what he described, we’d kissing all the time. His staff already cleared it with the school for tutoring and um,  _ physical therapy. _ I’m not so sure I want to do that with a friend.”

El’s felt the sadness creeping in.

“Unless…”

Her voice must have emphasized the way she felt, “Unless what Mike?”

“I have to tell you that it wasn’t any fun having all those girls kiss me, Yly thought she was doing something nice for me. Her heart was in the right place. The next girl I kiss I want to be my girlfriend. I didn't’ get to kiss my last one.”

“We got off to a bad start… but I always thought you were nice… and you are really pretty… so… if… if you want… I mean… my bandages come off today, so you wouldn’t have to… after you saw me… I mean...”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Mike.” El sighed. “I would love to be your girlfriend. When we were cooking it was almost like we’d known each other for a long time. It felt good. There’s a little problem though.”

“I already know what you are going to say.”

“You do?”

“We are not going to be able to help it. All that kissing is… is… going to…”

“Turn us on.”

Mike gave a little laugh, and then said… “Ouch… it hurts to laugh. I mean, I know Tommy H. and Carol have been having sex since, well, our age, but.”

“Well  _ you’re _ not Mike. If my dad ever found out…”

Mike sighed. “I know.”

El looked around, feeling very paranoid… “but Mike… there are, um, other things we can do. That would… relieve the… frustration. For both of us.”

“Uh…”

“I shouldn’t even be telling you this.”

“Don’t. Let’s just see how the kissing goes. I get my bandages off in a few minutes. Depending on your reaction to my face, this will just be an embarrassing conversation that we have to promise not to tell anybody.”

  
  


XXXXX

  
  
  


“Ok… are we ready for the big reveal?”

“It’s going to be bad isn’t it?” Mike said to the doc.

“Yeah, as requested, your parents are outside. They will give you some time to adjust.”

“Dr. Owens… can I… hold his hand while you take them off.”

Sam nodded.

He said in a stool in front of Mike and went to work.

  
  
  


XXXXX

  
  


“Now your face is going to feel cold for a few minutes. And the tightness caused by that is going to hurt. I’d venture to say just a little, but that would be bullshit. It’s going to hurt a lot Mike.”

“You have a great bedside manner doc.”

“Not my strong point, I’m a scientist, but like it or not, I’m the schmuck you are stuck with.”

Mike was finally free of the bandages and he turned his eyes to El’s

He waited for her look of disgust.

He waited for her to burst into tears at his disfigurement.

Instead she had a big smile on her face.

“It doesn’t look bad?”

“Oh no. Mike. It looks bad, but you are the most handsome, cute, rugged, dangerous looking boyfriend a girl could have.” She turned to the doctor. 

“When can we start kissing?”

Doc Owens chuckled.

Mike looked down, “Are you just saying that are you El? I don't’ think my mom is going to have the same reaction.”

“A cute boy once told me that he would never lie to me. Well, I’m never going to lie to him.”

“I have an idea of how to break it to you mom.” Owens said.

Both Mike and El looked at him. “You two start kissing. It will be painful for Mike at first. I will go out to explain the, ‘exercises’ to your parents. I will be blunt about the… let’s call it intensity of the kissing. They’ll come in and see, and I think that will go a long way.”

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


Karen walked in to see the pretty girl that had probably saved Mike’s life.

Kissing him.

Hungrily kissing him. Her hands were on his shoulders, she could see her son wincing a little in pain as they worked their way around each other's mouths. She could also see the occasional flashes of tongue they were sharing.

She looked at the doctor, “Is that really necessary?”

Just then Hopper walked in too… “Whoa whoa, whoa you two ease if off a little.”

“No can do, Chief. And yes it is Mrs. Wheeler. Kids these days do… a lot more… I know, I know, that doesn’t help. You will have to be understanding.”

“I believe Eleven would do anything for you son, and even if it all goes awry down the road. The experience will be good for both of them.”

“Do you also have a degree in Psychology?”

“Actually I do. I was the lead consultant for the State in the Humanities program they are both taking. This is all win-win. As grown-ups… well, we have to do a little bit of growing up ourselves. It’s a new era for kids. Not like when we were kids.”

“My lips are sore.” Mike said. He turned to her Mom, and the shocked expression on her face let him know that the scar was really bad.

“Have you seen it yet Mike?” His mother asked.

“No… I will eventually, but the girl I just spend the last ten minutes kissing, is ok with it. So I am too… and I guess you can’t see that I’m smiling.”

“It looks like a sneer.” Owens said. “That’s a good sign. Means you might get some facial expression back. It won’t be a full smile though Mike. Those muscles are no longer there. One other thing. They need to kiss. A lot. More than a lot.”

“Not in my house they won’t” Hopper said his eyes darkening.

“Then they will in my house, Jim. I’m sorry I’m going to be a little selfish when it comes to my son. El is old enough to know what’s going on. You need to accept that.”

“Did you see the way they were kissing?” He asked her.

“I’m in the room dad. We were French kissing. Not only was it fun but it's helping Mike.

El was not blushing, Mike was a little, his eyes were smiling even if he couldn’t.

  
  


XXXXX

  
  


“Hmm… I wonder.” He said, his lips not moving at all.

“What’s that, Mike?”

“What in the universe aligned it self in away that let your dad be ok with you staying with me this weekend. I know he said he was away. But then… my parents are taking Nancy and my little sister Holly to check out colleges. So we are here… by ourselves… all weekend.”

El put her fingers to her forehead and pretended to be predicting the future.

“Ommmm, the future is clear. I see lots of kissing. Some more kissing… possibly naughty touching... “

She opened her eyes and they went very wide as she looked at Mike’s face.

“What’s wrong? Is it the scar, stitches comes loose? Bleeding.”

“The scar is a flaming purple. You are blushing.”

“I guess that’s going to be hard to hide. What colour is it ordinarily?”

“You haven’t seen it yet?”

Mike shook his head. El grabbed his hand and led him into the basement bathroom.

Mike was not expecting how bad it looked. He saw the purple in the scar fade to pale, like the rest of his face. The scar from just above his left eyebrow, skipping his left high, and continuing across the bridge of his nose, down over his right cheek to end just below the right corner of his mouth. It almost looked evil. Dangerous for sure, the hint of a sneer was gone when he tried a fake smile.

He turned to El. “You don’t have to be with me if you don’t want El. I think the days of girls lining up to kiss me are gone. Forever.”

“There’s only one girl that’s going to be lining up to kiss you… lots… And forever.”

“Who?”

El put her hand on her hips and huffed. “Very, funny. Your scar is a deep red right now Mike. Red is the colour of love… and oops…” She covered her mouth.

“It’s ok El. Really. Only a very special couple of girls could love this face now. You and my mom. I think I’m only going to get this one shot at happiness… and you’re it.”

“You are talking too much Mike. You should be kissing me… for medicinal purposes of course.”

“Of course.”


	6. Light Secrets, Dark Secrets, and Naughty Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, wanted to get this chapter out of the way and realistically deal with the issue in a non pwp manner.
> 
> This is me not coddling teens who know more then their parents think they do.
> 
> No more of it in this story. You can just assume.
> 
> I only have one more chapter in this particular story. Working on a much bigger, more complex story.

_ Two months ago, Mr. Clarke told us that the next Humanities project was about long term coaching, teaching and cheering on your partner. The caveat was that it had to be something that neither could do right now, or were no good at. Or didn’t like. They way Mike and I felt about out each other we decided we would do something neither of us liked. _

_ Exercise.  _ _ Mike isn’t the least bit athletic, and I don’t like to sweat. Most girls don’t. Sweat under your boobs is one of the worst feelings. Now that I have them I hate sweating. I don’t even want to think about the times I sweat… down there. _

So they both started to work out.

“This is really going to test our relationship,” Mike said.

“Nothing will ever make me hate you Mike. Me on the other hand… well… I have secrets that aren’t so nice.”

“Nothing will ever make me hate  _ you _ El. You’re kind of stuck with me.”

El grinned and gave him a kiss. “I hate sweating.”

“So you’ve said.”

El would cheer Mike along by offering to show him her breasts if he did one more push up, or crunch… one more of anything really. Mike would laugh but try harder. 

Mike would cheer El along by offering to let her run her bare breasts on his developing abs. 

“Yeah, right, mister. You are going to have to work a lot harder than that to see them.

_ I’m only half kidding. I keep watching his ass as he works out.  _

  
  
  


XXXXX

During those months they both saw some things that changed in the other, and some things that didn’t change.

As Dr. Owens had predicted Mike could not smile. Not even a sneer. That didn’t stop them from kissing constantly as he could purse his lips slightly, but the doctor said the time had passed for any improvement.

Instead the colour changes of Mike’s scar let El know how he was feeling.

“I think you have a great poker face Mike, but the scar is like a red bluffing flag. You won’t be able to play and win.”

“Or be able to lie to you.”

“I know you wouldn’t do that to me anyway.”

Mike had a little bit of a growth spurt, but his physique and longer hair made the girls outright stare at him.

El’s hair didn’t grow any longer, but her figure filled out a little bit.. She was happy with the results, but even happier that Mike noticed them.

“El. Um… you are really sexy. You could pass for a woman in her twenties easily. I think with the way I look, I’m a lucky guy. You are only going to deny me access to your boobs for so long.”

El laughed but said, “Are you kidding me? Have you seen your abs lately. Girls are gonna want to rub more than their breasts on them.”

Her face went serious and she said, “I never did tell you why I insulted you that first day we were partners.”

“I think the secret phase of the program is over El.”

“I know, but the secrets between us can’t stay secrets. Not if we want to be together… forever… you  _ do _ want that… don’t you? To be together… forever?” 

She sounded unsure, but Mike’s kiss was enough to reassure her.

“You already know about my hair. That wasn’t really a big secret. I call that one a  _ light secret.  _ Most people just write it off as a medical thing. But there’s a reason for it Mike.”

“You don’t have to tell me Eleven. If you had no hair… I don’t think it would bother me.”

“Mike,” El said patiently, “The only way a guy would be ok with a girl with a bald head was if there was a nipple on the top of it.”

Mike burst out laughing. “For me, yeah, I only ever touched one a few months ago. Never seen one in real life.”

“Is that really bothering you Mike? I have what I call  _ dark secrets,  _ but I have naughty secrets too.”

“Hit me with the dark secret.”

“Are you sure Mike? It’s bad.”

Mike looked at her, his scar a brilliant red. “I love you.  _ Nothing _ you can say will change that. I promise.”

El’s eyes widened… then dripped the tears she’d been holding back. “I love you too Mike. I thought… you might not like me as much as I like… love… you. I’m so happy… ”

The deep kiss they shared made them both breathless.

“Wow,” Mike said. “Ok, that’s out of the way. Show me your tits.”

El was about to unbutton her shirt, when Mike stopped her. “I was only halfway kidding El. Mostly.”

“Ok, then I halfway promise you’ll see them. Are guys really hung up on a girl’s breasts?”

“Only the scarred mouthbreather guys like me.”

El laughed. Looked at his eyes in wonder. “Ok, One Dark Secret coming up.”

El told him about the lab, and the humiliation she had suffered there. The experimentation. More humiliation. Wearing a hospital gown for twelve years when she wasn’t in the Bath. The evil people that worked there. The final humiliation.

Everything.

Mike was silent. His scar was a deep blue.

“Mike… I’ve never seen that colour on your scar before.”

“I’m mad. Actually… that really doesn’t cover it. I’m super fuckin’ pissed. And now Sam Fucking Owens is running that place? Fucking asshole cunt. He’s gonna hear it from me on my next appointment. No, better he hears it on his answering service…”

“Mike…”

“I’m gonna rip him a new asshole, is he  _ still _ doing experiments on you? Is that why you have to go? I need to…”

“Mike…”

“...to tell my dad, he is just the person to blow that fucking lab out of the fucking water and sink all those fuckholes working in it. FUUUUUUUUCKING CUUUUUUUUUNTS.” Mike was seething.

“Mike. Stop it!” El said loudly.

El looked a little scared when she saw Mike’s face. She was scared. She would admit later she peed a little. She rushed to the bathroom.

When she came out Mike’s scar was back to red. The colour of love.

“Are you ok?” Mike said, his voice much calmer.

“You have a dark secret Mike.”

“I do?”

“When you are mad like that. Your scar turns a deep blue, your face looks... demonic. I’ve been scared by a few things, but I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared.”

“I’m...suh… suh… sorry El.” Mike held his tears back.

El hugged him for a long time. “It’s ok sweetie… I know it wasn’t directed at me… but… it… was… scary as fuck.”

Mike had never heard her swear and laughed. She meant it.

“So when I told you my dad worked there… you immediately associated me with some very bad scum.”

“That would have been a compliment.” El said, her face menacing.

“It was a guy named Brenner. Forced us to call him ‘Papa’.”

“Us?”

El held out her arm, showing the tattoo.

“He named us. Wasn’t that nice of him?”

She could see the scar turn an even deeper blue. She leaned forward and kissed him.

The scar turned almost immediately red.

“I only know about number eight. I don’t even know if the rest were failed experiments and are … gone.”

Mike shook his head in disbelief.

“I love you so much right now I can’t stand it. I will never be mean to you El. Never.”

El smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.

“I have two more dark secrets. They are dangerous to know. If I tell you Mike… this is serious. If you tell anyone, you will be effectively killing me, and then yourself.”

Mike’s eyes let her know he was listening.

“When I escaped that night… I had to hurt people… I may have even killed some. But I couldn’t live like that anymore.

“I hope they died in screaming agony,” Mike’s scar went deep blue again.

“Then I had to live in the forest for awhile. Until I approached my dad.”

Mike could no longer hold back the tears… “those fuckers... “ he said in a low voice.

El waited for the sobs to erode to sniffles.

“You don’t talk like any other girls I know. Your vocabulary is really good. Did you get some kind of brain experimentation done.”

“No, my dad gave me dictionaries. I practically memorized them. I also… watched a lot of TV. Mike I can guarantee you don’t know any girls like me.”

To prove it El lifted the barbell that Mike had been struggling with. 

Mike looked at it. Then at El. Then back at the barbell. “I promise El. I’ll never tell a soul. You deserve a whole lot better than me.”

“No. I deserve  _ exactly  _ you.”

Again they gave each other promise kisses. It was enough for both of them.

“Ok... onto at least one naughty secret. When we are kissing Mike, I’ve been very aroused. Some nights I couldn’t stand it and I made a bad excuse to go home. I went home and made some chamomile or chai tea, took it to my room, lit a candle and put on some soft music. Went to bed and touched myself. Over and over again. Into oblivion.”

The Purple Scar made its entrance. 

“What about you Mike?

After we made out and you left… I… um… took care of myself in the shower.

El nodded.

“I’m not going solo again Mike. "

“We’ll figure something out.” Mike said.

“I already have.”

Mike found out later and both of them were happy with the results.

  
  



	7. Blue Scar Promise

Mike took a long look at himself in the mirror. He didn’t like what he saw. He didn’t like it all.

And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

_ I don’t know what El sees in me. That scar is nasty. I’m never going to have a job where I have to face people. No way I’m getting another girlfriend. I can’t screw this one up… I can’t. I don’t want to be alone. No El means being alone forever. _

Mike couldn’t help it. A tear slipped out. He felt arms enclose around his middle. El’s cheek pressed up against his shoulder.

“It’s ok Mike. You have me for as long as you want me… forever?”

“Forever El. I’m too scared,” he hmphed, “and too scarred to start again with a girl. I wasn’t very good at it the first time.” 

El squeezed him a little tighter. “Let’s go for a walk.” She took his hand and led him out of the basement. 

They headed towards the railroad tracks. 

Mike sighed. “I really like the way you smile at me. I only wish I could smile back.”

“You do… you smile back with your eyes. Any girl would see that.”

“Really?”

“Well,  _ I _ do, and I’m the only girl that counts.” She gave him one of those smiles that made Mike weak in the knees.

“You are really going to stick with me?”

“Mike!” El faced him with her hands on her hips. She looked frustrated “That’s enough. You have to trust me. Right now you are the only person that knows what I went through. It was hard to tell you, I don’t want… I don’t think I  _ can  _ tell that story again.”

“Sorry I doubted you, it hasn’t been all that easy. I’m not sure what shape I’d be in right now if it wasn’t for you and… oh oh. Here comes trouble.”

El’s eyes followed where Mike’s were looking. It was Troy and James. A little apprehension went through El, she was worried that Mike would get beat up again. 

_ Wait a sec.  _ I _ could stop him if I needed to. Also, Mike has a lot of muscles, and he’s taller, I don’t think Troy is going to be a problem. James is just a wimp, so no problem there. And Mike looks really scary when he’s mad. _

“Well, well, who do we have here? Frogface turned Scarface and his little cunt. Let me fuck her after you ok, Frog, I mean Scarface.”

El would never see the colour of blue like the one she saw on Mike’s face. She didn’t think that colour occurred naturally in nature. Mike took off his jacket. His was wearing a tight t-shirt, his nicely muscled forearms and biceps showed, and his abs were well defined through it.

Troy’s smile disappeared when he saw that Mike was walking toward him, and he saw that scar was blue, and his Mike’s face look hellish. He didn’t get much chance to think anything else. Mike’s fist came out and plastered Troy’s nose all over his face.

“That’s for even looking at her.”

Mike punched him in the stomach, and was pretty sure he cracked one of Troy’s ribs.

“That’s a reminder. If I see either of you again, I promise I’m going to dislocate your elbow. That’s right.  _ Not _ your shoulder, way too easy, I’m gonna dislocate your elbow. Are we clear?”

“Fuck you,” Troy tried to spit blood at Mike. And received another broken rip for his efforts.

“I said.” Mike took a deep breath and screamed, “ARE WE FUCKING CLEAR!”

James helped Troy up, who was hunched over. They walked off, Troy groaning in pain.

Mike was breathing heavy. “You stood up to him!” El said. 

“I was scared to death. I wasn’t going to let him talks to you that way.”

“I know, I’m so proud of you. You were very scary looking Mike. I’m not sure you had to punch him.”

“Oh, he needed to be punched in the worst way. Nobody talks to you that way. Not my girlfriend.” His scar turned red.

El couldn’t keep the smile off her face. 

_ I am safe with him. I’m always going to be safe with him. _

“Let’s go to the bus and make out.” El winked.


End file.
